Shloka 21
Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma
Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor
यस्तु मे विहितो भक्ष्य: स्वयं देवैः: सनातन: । श्येना: कपोतान् खादन्ति स्थितिरेषा सनातनी
yastu me vihito bhakṣyaḥ svayaṃ devaiḥ sanātanaḥ | śyenāḥ kapotān khādanti sthitir eṣā sanātanī ||
“But the food ordained for me—eternally—by the gods themselves must be what I receive. From ancient times it has been known that hawks eat pigeons; this is the timeless order of nature.”
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a claim of dharma grounded in 'sanātana' (timeless) order: each being has an allotted mode of sustenance, and disrupting that ordained order is presented as ethically problematic. It frames predation not as personal cruelty but as a divinely sanctioned, natural duty.
The speaker, the hawk (Śyena), argues for its right to eat the pigeon (Kapota), stating that the gods have assigned it this prey. By invoking ancient, established practice—hawks eat pigeons—it defends its demand as conformity to an eternal rule rather than an arbitrary act.